Unalaska renewed the seafood waste line easement for another decade

If the seafood waste line running under East Point Road and Airport Beach Road into Unalaska Bay ever ruptures, the cleanup is Westward Seafoods' bill, not the city's.

The Unalaska City Council approved a renewed 10-year easement Tuesday for the existing 12-inch outfall line, running from Sept. 7 of this year through Sept. 6, 2036. Westward pays $2,250 a year, with the rate open to review every five years.

The terms put the risk on the company. Westward has to clean up and remediate anything released by a break or leak, and has to defend and indemnify the city. It takes the easement "as is" and "with all faults," assuming all risk of environmental pollution. The city warrants nothing about the line's condition.

Two other provisions give the city leverage. If the line interferes with a future road or utility project, Unalaska can require Westward to move it at the company's expense. And if any required permit lapses for more than 90 days, including the federal wastewater discharge permit, the city can end the easement.

State records list Westward's wastewater permit as expiring Feb. 28, 2027, with Captains Bay as the receiving water. The easement is a lease of ground, not a discharge authorization, and does not change what the company is permitted to release or how it is monitored.

The council records for this action contain no public testimony and no independent environmental assessment of the line.